Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to provide for the transportation of pupils to and from school. Existing law, among other things, requires each school district or county office of education that provides transportation to receive the same home-to-school and special education transportation allowances that it received in the prior fiscal year and prohibits the transportation allowances from exceeding the prior year's approved transportation costs, increased by the amount provided in the annual Budget Act. This bill would require the Superintendent of Public Instruction, commencing with the 2015–16 fiscal year, to apportion to each school district, county office of education, entity providing services under a school transportation joint powers agreement, or a regional occupational center or program that provides pupil transportation an amount equal to a specified annually increasing percentage of its approved transportation costs for the prior fiscal year or 100% of its school transportation apportionment for the 2013–14 fiscal year, annually adjusted as specified, whichever is greater. The bill would require the Superintendent to establish a process to provide startup school transportation apportionments to school districts that did not provide pupil transportation services in the 2014–15 fiscal year, as specified. These provisions would be operative only to the extent that funding for purposes of the bill is provided in the annual Budget Act or another statute.
Sponsored bills
The California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 designates the State Air Resources Board as the state agency charged with monitoring and regulating sources of emissions of greenhouse gases. The state board is required to adopt a statewide greenhouse gas emissions limit equivalent to the statewide greenhouse gas emissions level in 1990 to be achieved by 2020, and to adopt rules and regulations in an open public process to achieve the maximum, technologically feasible, and cost-effective greenhouse gas emissions reductions. The act authorizes the state board to include the use of market-based compliance mechanisms. Existing state board regulations require specified entities to comply with a market-based compliance mechanism beginning January 1, 2013, and require additional specified entities to comply with that market-based compliance mechanism beginning January 1, 2015. This bill instead would exempt categories of persons or entities that did not have a compliance obligation, as defined, under a market-based compliance mechanism beginning January 1, 2013, from being subject to that market-based compliance mechanism through December 31, 2020. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
The Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act governs the management and operation of common interest developments, except for those developments limited to industrial or commercial uses, which are governed by the Commercial and Industrial Common Interest Development Act. Each act requires specified procedures for the collection of delinquent assessments, including, but not limited to, a procedure for giving notice to an owner of a separate interest of collection actions. This bill would, until January 1, 2019, authorize, under certain circumstances, an association governed by either act to serve an owner or owner's representative with notice of a foreclosure action to collect delinquent assessments by posting a copy of the notice on the owner's separate interest in a manner most likely to give actual notice to the party to be served and mailing a copy of the notice, as specified. The bill would also, until January 1, 2019, authorize, under certain circumstances the notice of foreclosure to be published.
Existing law imposes an annual minimum franchise tax, except as provided, on every corporation incorporated in this state, qualified to transact intrastate business in this state, or doing business in this state. Existing law exempts a corporation that incorporates or qualifies to do business in this state from the payment of the minimum franchise tax in its first taxable year. Existing law imposes an annual tax in an amount equal to the minimum franchise tax on every limited liability company doing business in this state. In addition, existing law requires every limited liability company if the articles of organization have been accepted by, or a certificate of registration has been issued by, the Secretary of State to pay an annual tax in an amount equal to the minimum franchise tax. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2018, reduce that minimum franchise tax for a corporation and that annual tax for a limited liability company, as provided, that is a new veteran-owned small business, as defined, and would eliminate the tax if the business operates at a loss or ceases operation. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
The Personal Income Tax Law allows various credits against the taxes imposed by that law. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2020, allow a credit in an amount equal to 15% of the tuition paid or incurred during the taxable year by a taxpayer for education and training obtained by the taxpayer or a dependent of the taxpayer at a vocational institution, as defined, not to exceed $2,500 per taxable year. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Existing law authorizes the governing board of a school district to allow pupils whom the district has determined would benefit from advanced scholastic or vocational work to attend community college as special part-time or full-time students, subject to parental permission. Existing law, until January 1, 2014, required credit to be awarded to these pupils, as specified, made the authority of a school principal to recommend a pupil for community college summer session contingent upon a determination that the pupil met various criteria, and prohibited the principal from recommending more than 5% of the total number of pupils from any particular grade level who completed that grade immediately before the time of recommendation for summer session attendance, except as specified. This bill would reinstate these provisions until January 1, 2017. The bill would, until July 1, 2020, authorize the governing board of a school district to enter into a concurrent enrollment partnership agreement with a community college district located within its immediate service area to allow pupils to attend community college. The bill would require a community college district and a school district, as a condition of, and before adopting, a concurrent enrollment partnership agreement, to take testimony from the public and approve or disapprove the proposed agreement at a regularly scheduled open public hearing of its respective governing board after having presented the agreement at a prior open public hearing. The bill would require the concurrent enrollment partnership agreement to outline the terms of the partnership, as specified. The bill would prohibit a school district from receiving a state allowance or apportionment for an instructional activity for which a community college district has been, or will be, paid an allowance or apportionment under a concurrent enrollment partnership agreement. The bill would authorize a participating high school to monitor the progress of its pupils attending a community college and to obtain the pupils' records from a community college district to do so. The bill would require, for each concurrent enrollment partnership agreement entered into under the bill, the affected community college district and school district to file an annual report, containing specified data, with the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. The bill would also authorize the governing board of a community college district to enter into a partnership with the governing board of a school district located within its service area with the goal of developing seamless pathways from high school to community college for career technical education or preparation for transfer. The bill would require the partnership agreement to outline the terms of the partnership, as specified, and would require copies of the partnership agreement to be filed with the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges and the Superintendent of Public Instruction. The bill would authorize a community college district to limit enrollment in a community college course to solely high school pupils under specified circumstances. The bill would authorize specified high school pupils to enroll in up to 15 units if those units are required for these pupils' partnership programs and specified circumstances are satisfied, and would authorize a community college district to exempt special part-time and full-time students taking up to a maximum of 15 units per term from specified fee requirements. The bill would prohibit a community college district from receiving a state allowance or apportionment for an instructional activity for which a school district has been, or will be, paid an allowance or apportionment under a concurrent enrollment partnership agreement. The bill would require, for each partnership agreement entered into under the bill, the affected community college district and school district to file an annual report, containing specified data, with the Office of the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. The bill would also make related and conforming changes.
(1) Existing law establishes the Agricultural Career Technical Education Incentive Program, which requires the Superintendent of Public Instruction to award a grant, for the purpose of purchasing or leasing agricultural career technical education equipment, to an applicant school district that operates an agricultural career technical education program and that meets specified requirements. Existing law requires the governing board of each school district to annually adopt or update a local control and accountability plan that contains specified information. This bill would continuously appropriate the sum of $4,134,000 in each fiscal year beginning with the 2015–16 fiscal year from the General Fund to the State Department of Education for purposes of funding the Agricultural Career Technical Education Incentive Program. The bill would require the Superintendent to award a grant to a school district that, in addition to meeting the existing requirements, demonstrates how the expenditure of the grant funds will be consistent with its adopted local control and accountability plan. The bill would also express various findings and declarations of the Legislature relating to agricultural career technical education. (2) Funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the California Constitution.
The Personal Income Tax Law and the Corporation Tax Law allow various credits against the taxes imposed by those laws. This bill would, for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2015, and before January 1, 2020, allow a credit in the amount of 20% of the monetary contributions made to a qualified tuition program, as defined, by a qualified taxpayer, as defined, not to exceed $500. This bill would provide for the payment of a credit amount in excess of tax liability upon an appropriation by the Legislature for that purpose. This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
(1) Existing law generally provides for programming and allocation of funds for transportation capital improvement projects through the state transportation improvement program process administered by the California Transportation Commission. Existing law requires 25% of available funds to be programmed and expended on interregional improvement projects nominated by the Department of Transportation, and 75% of available funds to be programmed and expended on regional improvement projects nominated by regional transportation planning agencies or county transportation commissions, as applicable, through adoption of a regional transportation improvement program. This bill would require no less than 5% of funds available for regional improvement projects to be programmed in the regional transportation improvement program for disadvantaged small communities, as defined. In programming these moneys, the bill would require regional transportation agencies and county transportation commissions to prioritize funding congestion relief and safety needs. (2) This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as an urgency statute.
Existing law authorizes, except as provided, an action for damages against a defendant based upon the defendant's commission of a felony offense for which the defendant has been convicted to be commenced within 10 years of the date on which the defendant is discharged from parole if the conviction was for any of certain serious felonies, as defined, except as specified. This bill would authorize, except as provided, an action for damages against a defendant who was found not guilty by reason of insanity to be commenced within 10 years of a specified date. The bill would also make nonsubstantive changes and update a cross-reference in these provisions.